David Ortiz has his contract extension. The iconic Red Sox designated hitter agreed with the Red Sox on Sunday on a one-year, $16 million deal to extend his contract through the 2015 season. The announcement was made late Sunday night by GM Ben Cherington. The extension takes Ortiz almost to his 40th birthday, which will come shortly after what will be his 13th season in Boston. The extension includes a vesting option for the 2016 season and a club option for 2017. The $16 million salary Ortiz will earn in 2015 matches the salary the Red Sox have committed to Mike Napoli. That makes the two sluggers the team’s two highest-paid players — at least until pitcher Jon Lester signs his own contract extension, something both sides have expressed an interest in getting done. “With this agreement, we have near certainty that David Ortiz will finish his career in a Red Sox uniform, which is something we have all wanted and that we are all proud of,” said principal owner John Henry. “It is difficult to describe David’s contributions to our city both on the field and off the field, and we are so proud to have this ambassador of our game with us as he continues on this road to Cooperstown.” The Red Sox already had Ortiz under contract for the 2014 season at $15 million and no immediate obligation to extend him. But few were the scenarios that would have had the Red Sox not tendering Ortiz a qualifying offer next winter — an offer that figures to be around $15 million. Even a season-ending injury might not have done it, considering they tendered him one even after he missed the final two months of the 2012 season with an Achilles injury. And if the Red Sox already were almost certainly going to tender Ortiz a qualifying offer, from their perspective, it made sense to get him under contact to eliminate the possibility that a team like Baltimore, Toronto or New York would swoop in and offer him a crazy contract — maybe $20 million or more — for the 2015 season. That wouldn’t be a concern with most players, but Ortiz is unlike most players. Not since Seattle’s Edgar Martinez retired — he had his last above-average season at the age of 40, and his age-41 season was far from a disaster — has baseball seen a designated hitter like Ortiz. Across the board, Big Papi was one of the five best hitters in the American League last season. In his 11-year career in Boston, Ortiz has hit .287 with a .381 on-base percentage and .549 slugging percentage. He’s hit 431 home runs and 412 double in a Red Sox uniform, both fifth in franchise history. He has been a central figure in all three World Series titles Boston has won since 1918. And while it appeared five years ago that Ortiz might be nearing the end — he hit just .238 with a sub-.800 OPS in 2009 — he has surged back with a vengeance. In the last four seasons, he has hit .300 with a .392 on-base percentage and .560 slugging percentage, ranking him with Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, Joey Votto, Jose Bautista and Ryan Braun as one of the best hitters in the major leagues. Already a legendary postseason performer, Ortiz took his game to a transcendent level in the World Series last October. He hit .688 with a .760 on-base percentage and 1.188 slugging percentage, making him a no-brainer World Series MVP.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 11:53:47 +0000
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